Ice Lake found on Mars.....cool

[Drbio]

28 July 2005

These images, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, show a patch of water ice sitting on the floor of an unnamed crater near the Martian north pole.


The HRSC obtained these images during orbit 1343 with a ground resolution of approximately 15 metres per pixel. The unnamed impact crater is located on Vastitas Borealis, a broad plain that covers much of Mars's far northern latitudes, at approximately 70.5° North and 103° East.
The crater is 35 kilometres wide and has a maximum depth of approximately 2 kilometres beneath the crater rim. The circular patch of bright material located at the centre of the crater is residual water ice.


This white patch is present all year round, as the temperature and pressure are not high enough to allow sublimation of water ice.

It cannot be frozen carbon dioxide since carbon dioxide ice had already disappeared from the north polar cap at the time the image was taken (late summer in the Martian northern hemisphere).


There is a height difference of 200 metres between the crater floor and the surface of this bright material, which cannot be attributed solely to water ice.

It is probably mostly due to a large dune field lying beneath this ice layer. Indeed, some of these dunes are exposed at the easternmost edge of the ice.

Faint traces of water ice are also visible along the rim of the crater and on the crater walls. The absence of ice along the north-west rim and walls may occur because this area receives more sunlight due to the Sun’s orientation, as highlighted in the perspective view.


The colour images were processed using the HRSC nadir (vertical view) and three colour channels. The perspective views were calculated from the digital terrain model derived from the stereo channels.


The 3D anaglyph images were created from the nadir channel and one of the stereo channels. Stereoscopic glasses are needed to view the 3D images Image resolution has been decreased for use on the internet.

[sike]

what does this mean other than we all need to remember to bring our swimsuits next time we vacation on Mars?

[u2sarajevo]

It increases the probability that life (of some kind) has existed on Mars at some point.

[Drbio]

Correction. I essentially guarantees that life on Mars is a reality.

[chumdawg]

It means, sikeymonkey, that we...are not...alone!

But of course, you already knew that. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[kg_veteran]

I'm no biologist, but how does the existence of water guarantee the existence of life?

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally posted by: kg_veteran
I'm no biologist, but how does the existence of water guarantee the existence of life?

doesnt. But from what I learned in my biology class, it was the special qualities of water-- most specifically its ability to difuse cosmic radiation that allowed life to begin on Earth.

[kg_veteran]

Originally posted by: EricaLubarsky

doesnt. But from what I learned in my biology class, it was the special qualities of water-- most specifically its ability to difuse cosmic radiation that allowed life to begin on Earth.

I don't think anyone was around to confirm that.

[Murphy3]

Originally posted by: kg_veteran

I don't think anyone was around to confirm that.

KG, don't question EL. She's a young and sprightful schoolgirl. You're an old man long done with college.

[Drbio]

Although I agree with murph that kg_vet is old and past his prime I will tell you that no water mass ever discovered has been void of some kind of microorganism, bacterium, etc. The discovery of water virtually assures that life on Mars is a reality.

[jthig32]

This is an honest question: "All other water masses" that you refer to...those are all on Earth right? Sooo, is it out of the realm of possibility to find a water mass on another planet devoid of life?

[Murphy3]

Originally posted by: Drbio
Although I agree with murph that kg_vet is old and past his prime I will tell you that no water mass ever discovered has been void of some kind of microorganism, bacterium, etc. The discovery of water virtually assures that life on Mars is a reality.

Yes, but EL is spriteful.

[Drbio]

Originally posted by: jthig32
This is an honest question: "All other water masses" that you refer to...those are all on Earth right? Sooo, is it out of the realm of possibility to find a water mass on another planet devoid of life?

El wrongo my friend. Bacterium have been found on meteor ice. Otherwise...certainly noone knows for sure, but water is required for all life as we know and define it. The overwhelming probability is that something lives in that water.

[mavsman55]

Originally posted by: kg_veteran
I'm no biologist, but how does the existence of water guarantee the existence of life?

Fish!

[kg_veteran]

Murph - You make a valid point. She is spriteful.

Doc - If I'm old, what does that....aw, never mind...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[V2M]

Originally posted by: Drbio

El wrongo my friend. Bacterium have been found on meteor ice. Otherwise...certainly noone knows for sure, but water is required for all life as we know and define it. The overwhelming probability is that something lives in that water.

Doc, pardon my ignorance but isn't it possible that the meteor ice collected the bacterium as it traversed through the earth's atmosphere?

[Drbio]

Not likely....I do like the thinking of the box though.

[sike]

Originally posted by: Drbio
Not likely....I do like the thinking of the box though.

out of the box...sigh...he's so out of the box he can't even take the time to write the









ha.

[GP]

Doc, the Mars meteor allegedly containing fossilized microorganisms was debunked very thoroughly. Any microorganism that is found on a meteor is undoubtedly due to contamination.

Although I agree that there just may be microorganisms at this particular site no one has ever proven that water on another world guarantees that life is present. We'll have to take samples and find out for sure. Of course, we'll have to make damned sure that we don't contaminate those samples by accidentally exporting bacteria that originated on Earth.

[Drbio]

GP - there are literally hundreds of hypoatmospheric cases, not one singular debunked case. Also, contamination theory is as uncertain as any other depending on who you ask or who you believe.

Anyways....I stand on the scientific basis of my original statement. Water almost guarantees life. Now, we can also debate whether or not that is actually water. Spectro analyses have been inaccurate before....especially millions of miles away.

[Usually Lurkin]

Don't you dudes know, Water is alive.

By the way, you can purch- er, eh, learn all about the benefits of living water at goionic.com

[Usually Lurkin]

I also suspect, that because this is polar ice, there is most likely a Yeti, or perhaps some kind of Wampa ice creature living beneath the surface.

Doc, this is definitely not cool, by the way. Aliens are bad. Especially any microscopic ones. Haven't you seen the movies?

[Ninkobei]

Just curious- are there any bacteria on earth that could live in a place such as mars? We might try our luck at exporting bacteria over there to start life. It's certain to end in our ultimate doom, but not for another few billion years until they evolve and become more intelligent than we are. just a thought..

[Drbio]

I love having UL on this board.

Ninkobei - very interesting thought......in a hollywood kind of way.

[GP]

Hey Ninkobei, if you ran into some of the people I run into on a daily basis here in good old Paris, Tx you might believe that some prokaryotic bacteria are already intellectually superior to many humans. If not intellectually superior they are definitely smarter.

As I believe Doc said earlier, we have found bacteria in EVERY imaginable and extreme ecosystem. Bacteria can live completely inert with a special protein coating that can protect them for thousands of years. Bacteria and Archaebacteria have been found in hot water heaters, hydrothermal vents (feeding on sulphur), ice, deep underground, and of course some mutated bacteria can even survive in pure chlorine (one of the most highly toxic chemicals there is).

[alby]

Who cares if there is bacteria on Mars =X

it just means that an even more rediculous amount of money will be used on trying to discover something, right?

[sike]

I say we embrace our alien brothers.....and then do our best to steal their highly advanced technology and then either beat them to death with hammers or do our best to enslave them....lets reverse the whip from every SiFi book and movie!!!!!

[Caliente]